MARYSVILLE – Ford vs. Chevy? It’s been debated since Chevrolet opened for business in 1911.

For Marysville Police Chief Rick Smith, it’s Chevy.

“Chevys are faster,” he said at the city’s first biennial budget meeting Oct. 20. The council will look at the 185-page document more Nov. 3 before having a public hearing Nov. 10.

Buying 17 Chevy and two Ford police cars over the next two years at a cost of $1.08 million is only one of the highlights of the document. The city also is looking at its own three-person legal staff for $221,000. That is about the same the city has been spending on outsourcing legal services.

Council Member Jeff Vaughan asked how that compares to legal staff in other cities. He was told it’s comparable to Shoreline.

Mayor Jon Nehring said he’s glad the city changed to a two-year budgeting cycle.

“We can look further into the future,” he said. “It will pay off in the long run.”

He also said most of the $106 million budget is tied to certain areas so that only about $13 million is discretionary.

“There’s really little maneuvering room,” he said.

Because of the recession, the city has not purchased vehicles for years.

“This is a fleet catch-up budget,” Nehring said.

Top of mind for many at the meeting was the recent escape at the Marysville jail.

Chief Administrator and Community Development Director Gloria Hirashima explained that $150,000 is in the budget to do an in-depth study on the jail, city court, gaming and a drug-alcohol court.

“We tend to do things the way they always have been done,” she said. “We need to take a step back” and look for efficiencies.

Hirashima said the jail was built 30 years ago when the city had a population of 7,000. It’s now 60,000.

“Some of these projects are going to cost,” she said. “They are bigger than I expected. I just want to prepare you. It was an eye opener for me.”

When pushed for a number, she said it was way beyond her expectations of $10 million. More likely it will be up to $30 million.

“We need to investigate all the options,” she said. “It’s something we will have to grapple with for years.”

Council Member Jeff Seibert said, “When police make an arrest make sure they stay.”

Nehring said figuring out a way to pay for declining facilities over the next two to five years “can’t be ignored.”

The need for new police cars brought some entertaining discussion.

“We have one where the paint job looks like a Palomino,” Smith said. “We could use it and look like shabby Mayberry, but that’s not who we are.”

He added that maintenance changed the hood on that car with another one so it could still be used.

Also, the mileage is piling up on police cars. Many are near 100,000 miles, which may not sound like much to the average driver, but it is for police cars.

“We drive the cars really hard,” Smith said.

Public Works Director Kevin Nielsen added: “I like how they drive. They get bad people.” He added that with new equipment comes lower maintenance costs.

Expensive heavy machinery in the budget includes: a vactor truck for clearing storm drains for $515,000; two garbage trucks for $700,000; three front loaders for $345,000 each; garbage roll carts for $340,000; $280,000 for a street sweeper; a dump truck for $185,000; and a loader for $100,000.

Projects for the parks department include $684,740 for the Qwuloolt Trail Project, $50,000 for the Bayview Trail to connect it to Centennial Trail, $37,000 for Jennings restroom renovations, and funds for a family barbecue section at Comeford Park.

Also listed is $300,000 for a Comprehensive Plan Update on surface water; $200,000 for fiber optic installations at water sites; and reinstating hanging baskets downtown for $7,000 a year.

New personnel is another big part of the budget. Among the higher salaries are $125,000 for a Community Development Director; $95,000 for public records; $79,500 for a recreation coordinator; and $75,000 for a detective.

• Community Development needs three people: A director, a reclassification and an inspector. Hirashima said she no longer can do two jobs. She said she only is in CD once a week, and basically answers the phone and emails. “It’s not the same as being in the office.”

• Police is asking for a detective to track sex offenders and a specialist to help with administrative work. Smith said most cities Marysville’s size have up to 10 detectives, while he has five.

• Parks wants a recreation coordinator to help with the opening of the Rotary Ranch building and also more events at the Baxter Center.

• Streets wants three new workers, including a signal technician who used to handle nine lights but now has 43.• The court system is asking for a specialist to help with 3,000 probation cases.

• Finance is asking for two positions: one to help with increasing public records requests and another to help when some garbage services go online in 2017.

• Information Systems wants a new analyst to help with 300 software programs used in the city; solid waste wants two positions in 2016; and utilities is asking for two next year.

As for ongoing costs in the budget, the biggest increases from a percentage basis are unemployment and workman’s compensation. Insurance, pensions and social security also are going up. The biggest cuts are 22 percent for office and operating supplies.

Nehring said with millions of dollars in various reserves the city is sound financially.

“We are healthier than a lot of cities,” he said.